Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871 (Canary Channel)

Hello Windows Insiders,

Today we are releasing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871 to the Canary Channel.

We are also not planning to release SDKs for 27xxx series builds for the time being.

What’s new with Build 27871

Energy saver now available in Microsoft Intune

We are bringing the ability to manage energy saver in Windows 11 to Microsoft Intune to allow IT administrators to control the energy saver settings on Windows 11 PCs through group policies and Mobile Device Management (MDM) configurations.

This feature, when enabled, intelligently balances your battery use, so it can last longer between charges. It extends battery life by managing power usage efficiently. It limits background activity and reduces screen brightness, ensuring that devices consume less power while maintaining optimal performance. By automatically managing system processes and power usage, the energy saver group policy helps reduce overall energy consumption. This not only saves costs but also contributes to environmental sustainability.

IT administrators can activate the policy by using either method below:

  • Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11

  • Microsoft Intune Admin Center

The path for the new policy configuration can be found at in Local Group Policy Editor by navigating to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Energy Saver Settings and “Enable Energy Saver to Always Be On”.

Changes and Improvements

[Phone Link]

Phone companion for the Start menu is rolling out (again) for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel along with the following improvements:

  • Instantly see notifications from your mobile device apps — grouped by app for easy catch-up, right from your Start menu.

  • Mirror your Android device’s screen with a single click from your Start menu. Simply click on your device’s icon or access the option from the footer menu to quickly launch device screen mirroring.

  • Your iPhone© memories are now accessible from the Start menu. Windows iCloud app users can see recently synced photos and quickly access their iCloud photos all within the Start menu.

Note: Screen mirroring is only supported on certain Android devices. See Setting up and using phone screen in the Phone Link – Microsoft Support for more details on device support.

[Taskbar & System Tray]

  • We have adjusted the needy state pill under apps on the taskbar that need attention to be wider and more visible.

Reminders for Windows Insiders in the Canary Channel

  • The builds we release to the Canary Channel represent the latest platform changes early in the development cycle and should not be seen as matched to any specific release of Windows and features and experiences included in these builds may never get released as we try out different concepts and get feedback. Features may change over time, be removed, or replaced and never get released beyond Windows Insiders. Some of these features and experiences could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready.

  • Many features in the Canary Channel are rolled out using Control Feature Rollout technology, starting with a subset of Insiders and ramping up over time as we monitor feedback to see how they land before pushing them out to everyone in this channel.

  • Some features may show up in the Dev and Beta Channels first before showing up in the Canary Channel.

  • Some features in active development we preview with Windows Insiders may not be fully localized and localization will happen over time as features are finalized. As you see issues with localization in your language, please report those issues to us via Feedback Hub.

  • To get off the Canary Channel, a clean install of Windows 11 will be required. As a reminder – Insiders can’t switch to a channel that is receiving builds with lower build numbers without doing a clean installation of Windows 11 due to technical setup requirements.

  • The desktop watermark shown at the lower right corner of the desktop is normal for these pre-release builds.

  • Check out Flight Hub for a complete look at what build is in which Insider channel.

Before you update your machine, visit the Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27871 (Canary Channel)| Windows Insider Blog today to view full details on new features, general changes, improvements, known issues and much more!